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2025 County Report

Fires in Russell County, KY

In 2025, fire departments serving Russell County responded to 83 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $50K property loss.

5,056 residents FIPS 21207 29 cities · 4 fire depts
Total incidents
83
488 across 5 years
Building fires
17
12 wildland
Property loss
$473K
$280K structure · $193K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.

83
Total Incidents
Building fires 17 20.5%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 10 12.0%
Aircraft standby 8 9.6%
Grass fire 6 7.2%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 5 6.0%
All other categories 37 44.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Russell County?

Feb peaks. Jul dips.

Jan 5
Feb 12
Mar 9
Apr 7
May 4
Jun 7
Jul 2
Aug 10
Sep 3
Oct 5
Nov 8
Dec 11
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Russell County

488 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 29
2022 130
2023 147
2024 99
2025 83
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 17 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
76%
32
Cause undetermined
2%
1
Intentional / arson
12%
5
Equipment / heat source failure
2%
1
Under investigation
5%
2
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $209K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Russell County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 75% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $50,000 Russell Springs Building fires Significant
2 $40,000 RUSSELL SPRINGS Passenger vehicle fire Significant
3 $20,000 Russell Springs Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
4 $20,000 RUSSELL SPRINGS Building fires Significant
5 $15,000 RUSSELL SPRINGS Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
6 $15,000 Russell Springs Building fires Significant
7 $15,000 Russell Springs Passenger vehicle fire Significant
8 $12,000 Russell Springs Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $12,000 RUSSELL SPRINGS Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire Significant
10 $10,000 Russell Springs Building fires Significant
06 How Russell County compares

Russell County vs KY vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

16.42
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Russell County
16.42
KY avg
10.83
US avg
7.15
3.36
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Russell County
3.36
KY avg
1.34
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Russell County
0
KY avg
13.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Russell County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 21207.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Russell County

4 departments report from this county.

RUSSELL SPRINGS
Russell Springs
FDID A3539 73 incidents 21 vol
ELI
russell springs
FDID A3803 14 incidents 28 vol
JAMESTOWN
Jamestown
FDID A3538 0 incidents 16 vol
SOUTH RUSSELL VOLUNTEER
—
FDID A3838 0 incidents
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in KY

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Cut Gap 2022 USFS 2,468
2 Blockhouse 2006 USFS 1,896
3 KDF - Confluence 2 2024 USFS 675
4 Addison 2016 USFS 643
5 POORVALLEY 1986 NPS 626
6 Big Valley 2021 USFS 552
7 CUB RUN 1935 NPS 499
8 Hurricane 2022 USFS 485
9 Rockcastle Fire 2019 USFS 484
10 Enoch 2021 USFS 429

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.